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A little “Get to know me” post…

The following is pretty much how I see things. Some of it is mine, some of it has been adapted from other sources. This matters not. The words are a direct expression of who I am.

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I am committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.

I deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the world in supernatural terms, and to look outside nature for salvation.

I know that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life.

I know that a open, pluralistic and democratic society is the best guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities.

I am committed to the principle of the separation of church and state.

I trust that negotiation and compromise is the only means of resolving differences and achieving mutual understanding.

I am concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance.

I support the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves.

I attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity.

I want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suffering on other species.

I believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative talents to their fullest.

I am committed to the cultivation of moral excellence.

I respect the right to privacy. Mature adults should be allowed to fulfill their aspirations, to express their sexual preferences, to exercise reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive and informed health-care, and to die with dignity.

I believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. My ethics are amenable to critical, rational guidance. There are normative standards that we discover together. Moral principles are tested by their consequences.

I am deeply concerned with the moral education of our children. I want to nourish reason and compassion.

I am engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences.

I am a citizen of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos.

I am skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and am open to novel ideas and seek new departures in my thinking.

I maintain a worldview that is a realistic alternative to theologies of despair and ideologies of violence and as a source of rich personal significance and genuine satisfaction in the service to others.

I am an optimist, rather than a pessimist. I have hope, rather than despair. I put learning in the place of dogma, truth in the stead of ignorance, joy in place of guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion over selfishness, beauty instead of ugliness and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality.

I accept the fact that we can have the fullest realization of the best and noblest that we are capable of as human beings.

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